1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image formation apparatus and its paper feed control method, and more particularly to an image formation apparatus, which has a facsimile function and can set automatic paper feed, and its paper feed control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional facsimile machine, which can set plural recording sheets, automatically selects an appropriate paper feed tray according to a size of the received image and prints it on an appropriate recording sheet.
A multi-functional machine which has copying and printing functions in addition to a facsimile function might have a paper feed tray in which recording sheets not desired to be used for automatic printing out of facsimile-received documents are held.
An example of the recording sheet not desired to be used is a nonstandard-size sheet. When a received image is automatically printed on a nonstandard-size sheet, it becomes necessary to copy it to a standard-size sheet for storage later, and it is uneconomical. An OHP sheet is also used as a recording sheet. The OHP sheet is relatively expensive, and when its both sides are used for printing and its one side is copied, the opposite side image is also copied. Thus, it is hard to copy the original image information shown on both sides of the OHP sheet.
To prevent the above drawbacks, there is, for example, a “Printer having a facsimile communication function” described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 11-205524. It discloses a structure in which a paper size discrimination unit and a paper type discrimination unit are provided, and only when the size of paper stored in a tray is appropriate for facsimile reception printing and the paper type is ordinary paper, the tray is judged to be a paper feed tray
But, according to the above-described conventional technology, there may be a case where all the trays are judged to be nontarget trays for automatic paper feeding. If such a state occurs, a facsimile received document cannot be printed out at all, possibly resulting in a trouble that reception is refused or the machine stops without printing out a received document. And, when a user-designated set value is applied to the setting of a paper type, the machine falls in such a set state, but no unit was available to notify such an error.
Therefore, the present invention provides an image formation apparatus having a facsimile function, which can set a tray for automatic paper feeding and prevent a problem involved in the setting, and its paper feed control method.